carterb Posted December 27, 2020 Report Share Posted December 27, 2020 What an awesome project! Quote Link to comment
Tank. Posted January 1, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2021 Front is mostly complete, I need to figure out the sway bar situation and that should wrap it up. 3 Quote Link to comment
Tank. Posted January 1, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2021 Rear Suspension The 4 link is complete. It came out to be within a tenth of a degree of the transmission angle, so I am happy ended up there. It took me 2 hours to get the axle housing situated exactly where it was supposed to go. I did have to drill a hole in the frame to act as a relief as the angle of the bracket interfered with the nut. I also welded on some tie down brackets to the housing to make trailering easy if needed. Since the was made for an s10, the springs aren’t going to work for this. They are 7.2 inches tall, and I ordered 6 inch tall springs so I can get the ride height exactly where I want it. When those get here, I’ll post where it ends up. I would have had it on the ground rolling but I lost an axle bearing spacer somehow so I am currently trying to locate one. Otherwise I’m moving on to plumbing, fuel cell, and exhaust. 7 Quote Link to comment
JonMortensen Posted January 3, 2021 Report Share Posted January 3, 2021 Got a bunch of questions, sorry. How did you figure out which upper control arm to use? Were you just matching the length of the stock arm? What is the advantage? Clearance for the spring? And did you look at using a ball joint reamer on the upright, rather than welding in a plate for the stock ball joint? Is there an advantage to adjusting caster at the control arm vs at the strut rod? Seems like bushing bind would be the major issue there, and maybe this can all be heims jointed with enough effort, allowing more adjustment with less binding. 1 Quote Link to comment
Tank. Posted January 3, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2021 3 hours ago, JonMortensen said: Got a bunch of questions, sorry. How did you figure out which upper control arm to use? Were you just matching the length of the stock arm? What is the advantage? Clearance for the spring? And did you look at using a ball joint reamer on the upright, rather than welding in a plate for the stock ball joint? Is there an advantage to adjusting caster at the control arm vs at the strut rod? Seems like bushing bind would be the major issue there, and maybe this can all be heims jointed with enough effort, allowing more adjustment with less binding. No worries, a couple of things went into my thought process for the front. Paying $600 for that just seems outrageous to me. But other than that, one, I knew I was using 720 lower control arms which extends the track width. Two, I knew if I was a little longer than the stock upper control arm, I would be in the ballpark for small adjustability so I was looking for something similar in size. And the adjustability is for toe, not caster, because it will bind the joints I currently have. But could easily swap to heim joints for cheap if more adjustability is needed for final alignment. You are correct in that caster can be adjusted with the strut rod. I set the upper brackets in line with what would be stock caster. So you imagine a line drawn through the center of the brackets for both left and right, they intersect behind the truck. I did look into a reamer for the spindle but wanted to leave that alone incase I wanted to switch to a drop spindle or a different year (which I actually did switch to a Hardbody spindle), and keeping the parts needed from the same family makes it easier for me to keep track of. Now having said that, It would have been easier (but more expensive, I think the correct bit was like $80) to ream the spindles rather than make plates to fit the upper ball joint so it I had to do it again, I would probably just do that knowing what I know now. On the strut rods, I used sway bar bushings and can easily tighten the big nut on the front side to pull it more forward, or loosen to move more rearward (less caster). I'm anxious to get it on an alignment rack to see where it lands but with the way everything looks currently, it should easily fall in the green for caster and toe. I'll probably settle on a mild 1 to 1.5 degrees of camber and 3-5 degrees caster. It's just a fun mountain get around truck. 2 Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted January 4, 2021 Report Share Posted January 4, 2021 The strut rods have a very minor amount of adjustment, but that was to account for discrepancies in the frames...not for caster adjustment. As Tank mentioned, there will be binding if things are moved much. The factory caster was built into the spindle/dogbone as kingpin inclination. The dogbone was set vertical and the kingpin tilts at 1.5deg(if I remember right). Quote Link to comment
ShutterMeShort Posted January 4, 2021 Report Share Posted January 4, 2021 VERY clean start! Can't wait to see where your alignment ends up and the finished build! Inspiration! Quote Link to comment
Tank. Posted January 4, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2021 (edited) 13 hours ago, mklotz70 said: The strut rods have a very minor amount of adjustment, but that was to account for discrepancies in the frames...not for caster adjustment. As Tank mentioned, there will be binding if things are moved much. The factory caster was built into the spindle/dogbone as kingpin inclination. The dogbone was set vertical and the kingpin tilts at 1.5deg(if I remember right). And I installed the brackets of the upper control arm in line with where the oem mounting points where aimed. Which again, intersect behind the truck. Regardless, the heim joint part numbers that fit are 5/8-18 RH 1750506 and easy to install if needed. On the strut rod, there is about 1/2” in or out that it can be adjusted, which I have no idea what that would equate to for the caster adjustment. We shall see! Edited January 4, 2021 by Tank. Quote Link to comment
Tank. Posted January 17, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2021 Haven’t had much time to work on it lately, but the rear springs are swapped for a proper fit now. And the fuel tank is completely mounted. I moved the rear crossmember back some, drilled some holes in it and welded nuts to it. That’s the mount for the rear of the straps. For the front mount of the straps, I used a t bolt and some brackets on the coil over cross bar. Drilled holes, inserted the t bolt, the folded the strap around the t bolt and welded it. Now it can be tightened up against the bottom of the bed crossmember. Which is what the angle iron is representing. The tank is an all in one unit from Tanks Inc that has baffling, pump, sump, and fuel sender. 7 Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 Looking good B) 1 Quote Link to comment
EDM620 Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 The tank fit up looks real good. Is it equipped with a drain plug? Quote Link to comment
Tank. Posted January 18, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 4 hours ago, EDM620 said: The tank fit up looks real good. Is it equipped with a drain plug? Thanks, I'm pretty happy with the way it fits. Negative, no drain in the tank, it would need to taken out and flipped over to drain. Quote Link to comment
Tank. Posted January 31, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2021 (edited) Finished the rear, just need to run the return line to the fuel tank and vent. Otherwise tighten things to spec and move on to the exhaust. I used 5/16 aluminum for the fuel hard line and copper nickel 3/16 for the brake lines with stainless steel tube nuts. That’s the fuel filter bracket from the Frontier, fits nicely here and should be extremely easy to change. Also dropped the stock wheels off here locally for a guy to sandblast and powder coat. Hopefully it will be rolling here in a month or so. Edited January 31, 2021 by Tank. 2 Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted January 31, 2021 Report Share Posted January 31, 2021 Looks so good. B) 1 Quote Link to comment
EDM620 Posted January 31, 2021 Report Share Posted January 31, 2021 Please replace those rusty line clamps - everything is so nice & fresh then there's those rusty old clamps... If you gotta make new ones, some HDMW plastic is ideal Quote Link to comment
Tank. Posted January 31, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2021 1 hour ago, EDM620 said: Please replace those rusty line clamps - everything is so nice & fresh then there's those rusty old clamps... If you gotta make new ones, some HDMW plastic is ideal Lol those are there just so I could form the new line. They will go in the vibratory parts cleaner and painted this week. Quote Link to comment
Tank. Posted February 6, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2021 Got started on the exhaust, was able to keep all of it above the bottom of the frame. There’s just one hard angle joint which is just due to my inexperience. It was a little difficult to get above the transmission crossmember. Otherwise just need to make an S to go from the resonator to the muffler, then I plan on running a 90 straight out the side in front of the rear tire. The header is for an S14, it’s a chinese make but it was $48 bucks, so....let’s see how long it lasts. Return line is complete, the coiled up hose there is the vent line that will run under the bed to the front of the bed, then go up. From there I have a 90 to the actual vent. 5 Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted February 7, 2021 Report Share Posted February 7, 2021 exhaust looks great so far 1 Quote Link to comment
EDM620 Posted February 7, 2021 Report Share Posted February 7, 2021 6 hours ago, Tank. said: There’s just one hard angle joint which is just due to my inexperience That's a pretty minor problem there, don't see an issue with that - give yourself a little slap on the wrist if you feel the need! 1 Quote Link to comment
5t341tH Posted February 7, 2021 Report Share Posted February 7, 2021 good stuff being done! 1 Quote Link to comment
Tank. Posted February 7, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2021 Just a few things left to do on the exhaust now. Mainly hangers and fully weld the front portion, oh and I need one clamp for in front of the resonator. I’ll finish the tail pipe once the bed is back on, but there is a 90 just stuck in there for now to get an idea. 2 Quote Link to comment
BrothersGarage Posted February 8, 2021 Report Share Posted February 8, 2021 On 2/6/2021 at 3:40 PM, Tank. said: Return line is complete, the coiled up hose there is the vent line that will run under the bed to the front of the bed, then go up. From there I have a 90 to the actual vent. That tank setups is pretty slick. Did you have that custom made? Quote Link to comment
Tank. Posted February 8, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2021 2 hours ago, BrothersGarage said: That tank setups is pretty slick. Did you have that custom made? No it’s a universal truck tank kit from Tanks Inc. UT-N-2HT. Came with pretty much everything, I changed the filler cap to one like a late model ford, just stick it in and go. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/tnk-utn2htkitgml 1 Quote Link to comment
BrothersGarage Posted February 8, 2021 Report Share Posted February 8, 2021 59 minutes ago, Tank. said: No it’s a universal truck tank kit from Tanks Inc. UT-N-2HT. Came with pretty much everything, I changed the filler cap to one like a late model ford, just stick it in and go. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/tnk-utn2htkitgml Whelp that's an easy $400 spend, lol thanks for the heads up! Quote Link to comment
Tank. Posted February 8, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2021 14 hours ago, BrothersGarage said: Whelp that's an easy $400 spend, lol thanks for the heads up! Comparatively speaking, I have twice that in modifying my 240z tank for an aeromotive phantom unit and restoration. So for nearly everything I need for a little over $400 sounded like a good deal to me!! 1 Quote Link to comment
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